People generally don't understand games like cricket, hockey, volleyball, basketball etc because they have so much rules and perhaps they are boring too. Amongst most of the games, football is most popular. Most of the peoples have played this game at least once in their lifespan. Although they don't understand all rules of football, they play it and watch it either for their fun or entertainment or by interest as it is one of the fastest game which completes within 90 minutes. When i was a kid, I also used to play football with friends making post of two stones on two sides and ball used to be of the socks where wastes materials were inserted and we give the shape of sphere. (I play nowdays also but not with the balls of those shabby socks) Even if there is a small inter-school tournament of football there will be crowd of hundreds of people cheering that game. Even the people who are in their mid seventy or eightees are present as a spectator in such a small tournament but if there is a event like district level volleyball or province level cricket, the attendence will be too low. what is the reason behind it ?
Football of course is a game which needs nothing for its completion. The basic elements for football are two teams, a clearly defined rectangular area called ground, two goal-post and a spherical ball. That's the main reason behind the popularity of football. In football, there is a festival which is commonly known as FIFA world cup which comes every four years and whole world flows along with it.
FIFA world cup 2018 is very near and it is like a festival for all football fans. 32 nations from all over the world are qualified for this tournament among which some are new names and some are old. Some are the biggest surprises too. The nations like Brazil and Argentina has much more fans all over the world than others but as you know football is a team game and all nations are equally able to kiss the world cup trophy. So, one can only predict about the win or loss of a team but cannot guarantee about it. During FIFA world cup 2010, an octopus named 'Paul' came in highlights predicting 100% true result. Its still the subject of discussion that how that octopus predicted all results with 100% accuracy. But I think its totally waste to bark on such topics. So, lets talk about present.
FIFA world cup 2018 is starting from June 14 and will end at July 15 in the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Russia. Out of the thirty-two nations qualified to play at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, twenty countries competed at the previous edition of the tournament in 2014 . Both Iceland and Panama qualified for the first time, with the former becoming the smallest country in terms of population to qualify at this global trophy tournament. Some teams returned after failing to qualify for three tournaments in minimum are Egypt, Morocco, Peru and Senegal. The countries with biggest surprise in terms of disqualification include four-time champions Italy (for the first time since 1958) and three-time runner-up the Netherlands. Similarly, Chile - The team who defeated Argentina not only once but twice in the final of Copa America and Copa America centenario has not qualified for this World cup. Team USA is also not qualified for this tournament.
When we talk about players participating in this tournament, you will be more atonished because some huge names are not playing this tournament. Reson for it is either his country is not qualified or he is injured or the coach of national team don't have faith over him. Also there are some players who are 'One man army' of their team without whom the team cannot even imagine to play. So, there are several players to watch in this world cup. Also this world cup is main platform of players to get chance to be associated with biggest professional clubs. I'm not making list of players like Ronaldo, messi or neymar as all of us know their ability. I'll be talking about those players who can give their best by their alone effort.
In the list of players to watch, there comes Mohamed Salah at first. This 25 year forward plays his professional football with english club Liverpool and is most valuable player of Egypt football team. He has netted 33 times winning 57 caps for his national team. In 2017-18 season he played 52 games for liverpool scoring 44 goals. In the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League Final against Real Madrid, Salah was injured after a challenge by real madrid defender Sergio Ramos but it is stated that this would have no effect on his playing at the 2018 World Cup.
Tim Cahil makes 2nd place in my list of player to watch in this tournament. This 38 years veteran striker of Australia has won 105 caps for national team and scored 50 goals. Similarly, he has played his professional football for renowned clubs like everton, New york Red bull etc. By his effort australia won the AFC Asian cup 2015 for first time. This 5 ft 10 in forward has played world cup since 2006 and has netted five goals altogether. Probably, this is last world cup for him and he wants to leave some seal here.
Another player to watch in this world cup in my view is Robert Lewandowski. This 29 years sensation is also a skipper of Poland national team and is the regular player of Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich. For nation, he is considered as a prolific goalscorer. He has presented his country in Euro 2012, 2016. Revered with strength and scoring ability, Lewandowski will be a talisman in Russia, and his ability to score from anywhere will be tested in a group containing Senegal, Colombia, and Japan.
Timo Werner, a young sensation of Germany makes fourth in listas a player to watch in this world cup. A prolific goalscorer at youth international level, Werner made his senior debut for Germany in 2017. In the same year, he helped Germany claim the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup where his return of three goals earned him the tournament's Golden Boot award. He is compared to Miroslave Klose who is top scorer of world cup football.
